As they sit in the basement of the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Red Wings have made a coaching change. The team announced it has fired Derek Lalonde and hired veteran coach Todd McLellan as his replacement.
The Red Wings hired Lalonde in 2022, with the expectation that he would help complete the team’s rebuild. It looked like Lalonde was on his way to that goal last season, when he led the team to a 41-32-9 record, which left Detroit just outside the playoffs.
Entering the 2024-25 season, the Red Wings were hoping to end their eight-year postseason drought. Instead, a 3-6-2 run in December has dropped the team to 15th place in the East. On top of being eight points out of a playoff spot, the Wings are scoring just 2.54 goals per game, 29th in the NHL.
Those struggles prompted general manager Steve Yzerman to fire Lalonde, along with assistant coach Bob Boughner, and replace him with McLellan. Trent Yawney will also come to Detroit as an assistant on McLellan’s staff.
McLellan has 16 years of head coaching experience at the NHL level, and he’s built up a strong resume. In his time with the San Jose Sharks, ranging from 2008-2015, McLellan led the franchise to a 311-163-66 record and six postseason appearances.
As the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, McLellan oversaw a rebuild and got them to back-to-back postseasons in 2022 and 2023. Los Angeles fired McLellan in February in the middle of a disappointing run.
This will be McLellan’s fourth head coaching job in the NHL, and he brings a career record of 598-412-134 to Detroit.
One of his first challenges will be getting more out of veteran forwards like Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko and Andrew Copp. Those three have combined for just 16 goals, and the Red Wings need more depth scoring if they want to climb back into the playoff race.
